Stupor
by InTheCompanyOfDragons
Summary: After Dean goes to hell, Sam stops returning Caleb and Bobby's phone calls. Caleb goes searching for the youngest Winchester and finds a broken man, who needs Caleb's help to be led back to his remaining family. Please comment. Positive criticism welcome. Rated T for some language. Brotherhood AU
1. Chapter 1

Brotherhood AU created by Ridley

Stupor

Caleb Reaves pulled up out front of an old run down house in a town somewhere in the middle of Michigan. He had finally been able to locate Sam by tracking the GPS on John's old phone that Dean kept in the glove compartment of the Impala. The kid had cancelled all of his old cellphones, and Dean's. He didn't want to be found, but Caleb wasn't sure Sam knew about his Dad's old phone, or maybe he did and didn't think the GPS was active. Caleb wasn't sure, what he was sure of was that even during their worst days, the Winchester's had never stayed anywhere that was this bad. Sam obviously didn't want to be found. Caleb walked around to the back of the house and there in all its glory was the Impala. Caleb smiled and ran his hand over the top of the car, it was his last connection to John and Dean, and there were a lot of memories surrounding her. The only other connection he had was Sam, and the youngest Winchester had disappeared on them about two weeks ago. After Dean's death he claimed he needed to go out on his own for a while, and Bobby and Caleb had allowed him to go, not that they were happy about it. His calls became fewer and fewer until they stopped all together. Caleb was worried, he promised Dean he would look out for his brother, and he wasn't about to break that promise. Caleb opened the back door of the house, and stepped over the line of salt on the ground, at least Sam was still being safe. He crept quietly through the house until he entered a small back room with no door. Sam was curled up on the floor against the far wall. Caleb frowned, the kid didn't look good, he was bruised and there was dried blood on his t-shirt, not enough to be fatal, but enough to be from a serious injury. There were empty whiskey bottles scattered around the room, the room was a mess, but all of the weapons had been put neatly back in the bag. Caleb crouched beside Sam, and put his fingers to his neck checking for a pulse. Sam's eyes opened and Caleb suddenly had a gun pointed between his eyes.

"Jesus Christ Sam, would you put that away!" Recognition dawned on Sam, and he put the safety back on and pulled the gun down into his lap.

"Caleb? What are you doing here?" Sam didn't really sound curious, just bitter and angry.

"You stopped answering your phone, had to check on you."

"I don't need a babysitter…" Sam pulled himself off the floor, but kept one arm wrapped around his waist, he put his gun in his waistband and grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the windowsill. "What do you want?" Sam coughed after he swallowed a mouth full of whiskey, and he groaned in pain.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Sam grunted. "You look like crap." Besides the way Sam was cradling his chest, he had deep bags under his eyes, and was obviously drunk. Sam had packed on at least fifteen pounds of muscle in the last month and a half. Caleb knew that was for survival. He had no back up he had to be strong, be able to handle anything that came after him.

"You don't look much better, Caleb." Sam took another swig then put the bottle down. He picked up a plaid button up off the floor and tried to put his arms through the shirt, when he realized it wasn't going to work he sighed he put his arm around his waist again.

"Sam, are you hurt?" Caleb stepped forward, and Sam put his hand out in front of him and took a step back.

"I'm fine, leave me alone." Sam said, looking at the floor.

"Sam, you are bleeding, please let me help."

"I don't want your help! I though I made that clear to you."

"Maybe I don't care what you want." Caleb said quietly. "It is my job to look out for you, clean you up when you need to be cleaned up. That's what family does." Sam let out a low growl and took another drink out of the bottle.

"Piss off Caleb." Sam stared at the older man with a coldness that made Caleb step back. "You aren't him, don't try to be him."

"I'm not him, you're right he never would have let it get this bad. But I promised Dean I would look out for you." Sam laughed.

"You know how pathetic that is Caleb? Cause I do." Caleb looked at the kid in front of him, a kid who had seen and lost too much. "You know, Dad told Dean the exact thing. Ordered him to "watch out for Sammy." And he did, when we were kids, when I was at Stanford, and then he sold his soul to bring me back, all so he could keep a stupid promise he made to Dad when he four years old. Do yourself a favour Caleb, don't be a part of the Winchester legacy. Go home and leave me the hell alone."

"Sammy, listen to me." Sam tensed at the nickname, but said nothing. He took a drink and tilted his head so Caleb would know he was listening. "This isn't about some promise I made to Deuce, I mean yeah I promised him I would look out for you but it isn't just about that. Dean was the closest thing I had to a brother, and he was my best friend. I consider you my brother Sam. We're family and I care about you. Please just let me help." Sam shook his head and started breathing heavily before throwing the bottle against the wall; he folded in pain as the movement jarred whatever was going on under his shirt. Caleb reached out to steady him but Sam flinched away from his touch as if it burned him.

"Go away!" Sam screamed. "I don't want you here. Please, just leave me alone."

"What the hell is going on Sam? Dean wouldn't want this. He wouldn't want you to waste away like this." Sam shook his head and tears began to roll down his face.

"You don't understand." Caleb squatted down beside Sam and felt tears well up in his own eyes as he looked at the man he remembered being an innocent boy who knew nothing about the world of monsters.

"Then help me to, Sam please. I'm begging you…" Caleb paused and thought about his next few words. "You are all I have left of them Sammy. I can't lose you too." Sam's breathing was speeding up, and he looked up at Caleb.

"Caleb… When people get close to me they die. They all die. You can't be near me." Caleb sighed.

"Sammy, none of this is your fault. You think you are the only one who has thought that their family died because of them? Look at me, I saw my entire family die in visions, they are all gone, and we aren't Sam. We got each other, and Bobby and Mac. Please Sam, I need you." Sam let out a cry and lowered his head further to the ground, Caleb tentatively reached out and touched Sam's shoulder, and this time Sam leaned into the touch. Caleb moved forward and dragged the younger man into a hug. "It's gonna be okay Sam. Let me help you." Caleb put his arm to the boy's forehead and frowned. "Jesus, you are burning up. All right Sam you need to calm down, don't have a panic attack on me. Lay back so I can look at what's wrong."

"M'kay." Sam slurred and laid back on the sleeping bag he had been using earlier. Caleb pulled up Sam's shirt and exposed a bloody bandage, he pulled it back and saw a wound in Sam's stomach.

"Shit." Caleb said under his breath. "Sam is this a bullet wound?" Sam nodded his head groggily.

"Got the bullet out. First one grazed my arm, second one I pulled out when I got back."

"You got shot twice? What the hell were you hunting that had a gun?" Sam laughed.

"I wasn't hunting, I was the hunted. Gordon Walker." Caleb frowned.

"What are you talking about Sam? Gordon's dead."

"He had friends, and apparently when you get kidnapped by a demon, and brought back from the dead, people start to believe the stories."

"Your shoulder looks infected Sam, I'm gonna kill these guys."

"You can't blame them Caleb, they are just doing what they know. They aren't exactly wrong anyway." Caleb sighed, Sam always found a way to see the good in anyone, except for himself.

"You're a hunter Sam, you have done nothing wrong."

"It's not about what I've done, it's about what I am."

"And what do you think you are Sam?" Sam looked at his friend with a frown.

"Dean didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what Sam?"

"Yellow eyes has plans for me."

"We don't know that for sure. Hold your breath." Sam held in a scream as Caleb dumped alcohol over Sam's wounds, and when he regained his breath he continues.

"I talked to him in Cold Oak, I know what he wants." Caleb stopped bandaging and looked at Sam hard. Why hadn't Dean told him any of this?

"Demon's lie Sam. You know that."

"Not this time Caleb, the sad part is, Yellow eyes never lied to any of us. He always told truth, because the truth hurts more."

"What did he tell you Sam?"

"He wanted me to lead his demon army, against the humans. I guess he figured my loyalties should lay with him."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because of the demon blood."

"So what? Blood doesn't make you who you are."

"So what does? Experiences? I have spent my life surrounded by death Caleb; I have killed people, and tortured them. What does that say about me?"

"Sam, you have always done the best you could. You fought with all of us when you thought something was wrong. You are the most moral kid I have ever known. I don't care what yellow eyes told you, or what your destiny is. I am telling you right now, that you are a good person. You and me Sam, we are going to make Dean and your Dad proud. But for now, you need to sleep off this infection and stop your drunken ramblings, because you are going to regret all of this in the morning."

"Yeah probably, but we are just gonna forget all of this happened tomorrow right?" Caleb smirked.

"Yep, because we don't do chick flick moments. You are gonna come back to Bobby's with me to heal up."

"Caleb…"

"That wasn't a question Sam."

"I'm not a kid anymore, you can't tell me what to do." Caleb laughed, Sam sound like a petulant child.

"You will always be a kid to me, Sammy."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Wrestling a six foot four groggy Sam Winchester into the passenger seat of the truck was not as hard as Caleb thought it would be, and for some reason in that scared Caleb more then he thought it should. Sam fought everything his entire life, and in that instance Sam stopped being combative, and Caleb couldn't help but feel like the fight was draining out of the kid.

Caleb sighed and got into the drivers seat of the truck that had once belonged to John Winchester and pulled away from the rundown house. For the first little while it was quiet, but Caleb knew Sam was awake, so he drove on waiting for Sam to make the first move. He knew he had to tread carefully around Sam right now, after all the kid did just lose his brother and guardian. Eventually Sam cleared his throat and shifted attempting to find a comfortable position for his injury.

"It still smells like him in here." Sam said quietly.

"What?" Caleb asked.

"Gun oil, leather, anger, and hate… it still smells like him in here…"

"You mean your Dad?"

"Yeah… I mean I haven't been in this truck since I was a teenager… but it is still the exact same…"

"Uhhh… yeah I guess…" Caleb wasn't exactly sure where Sam was going with this, or even if he was going anywhere, they could just be fever induced rambles. Sam shifted again and turned his head towards Caleb.

"Dad would have been pissed at Dean… he wouldn't have wanted this." Caleb swallowed back any emotion he had, he would never get used to talking to the Winchesters in the past tense.

"Nobody wanted this Sammy…" Their family had been split in half over the past two years, and nobody had seen it coming, and it hurt every time he thought about any of them.

"No but Dad wouldn't have wanted Dean to save me… it wasn't the way it was supposed to be."

"Stop being cryptic kid, spit it out."

"Dad told Dean if he couldn't save me he would have to kill me… Dean was supposed to survive this… I'm not supposed to be here."

"Shut up Sam." Caleb could feel the guilt and self loathing rolling off the younger man, but he was starting to get pissed off.

"Dean deserved better then this…"

"So did you Sammy…" Sam shook his head, covering his eyes with his hair.

"My cards have already been dealt, I'll burn for that alone. There was no fucking point to all this. All he bought me was a few extra years until I join him in the pit… when they finally want me…" Caleb slowed down on the empty road and looked over at Sam.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"I've tried Caleb… they won't trade my soul for his."

"Son of a…" Caleb lurched over to the right and onto the side of the road. Sam was clearly wasted and sick from the fever, which was unfair for an interrogation, but Caleb had to know what was going on.

"You fucking idiot! That isn't what Dean wants! You are not going to end up in the pit, and I am not going to let you make any demon deals! That shit has happened enough on my watch!" Sam eyes Caleb coldly.

"What? You telling me you don't want him back? What happened to the guy who would help me do anything it took to save him?"

"I will still do anything to save him Sam, but not at the cost of you." Sam laughed darkly.

"Why? He was your best friend. Deuce and Damien fighting monsters while little Sammy ran away from his family. We've never been that close anyway… if I can get him back what's the harm?" Caleb hit the dash with his fist and Sam jumped at the sound.

"It isn't that we weren't close, we just weren't friends growing up… I mean you are twelve years younger then me, you were always this awkward little brother… but I was under the impression that over the past couple years that had changed. I thought we were friends and family, and that we would do anything for each other, or was that only me?" Sam scoffed.

"No it wasn't just you… I would do anything for you… and that includes bringing Dean back."

"Yeah well I would do anything for you… including handcuffing you to a fucking radiator until you come to your goddamn senses…" Sam laughed a little lighter this time.

"Now you sound like him…" Sam smiled as his eyes closed. Caleb sighed and put the car back into drive.

"Go to sleep kiddo, we'll talk more when you are less loopy." Sam nodded tiredly.

"Mmmkay…" Caleb pulled back out onto the road, wondering what he was going to do with the last remaining Winchester.

Sam slept most of the twelve hour drive the Sioux Falls, only waking up a few times not quite realizing where he was. His fever was steadily getting worse, so Caleb drove like a mad man to get him to Bobby's where his father was waiting for them. They pulled up the driveway to Singer Salvage where Bobby and Mackland were sitting on the front porch waiting. Caleb rounded the truck and opened the passenger side door pulling Sam out.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby asked grabbing onto Sam's other side to balance him.

"He got shot… twice… neither were deep, he pulled the one bullet out of his side, but his shoulder is pretty infected."

"Idjit Winchester…" Bobby mumbled.

"I'll grab my kit, put him down on the couch." Mackland ordered. Caleb and Bobby dragged Sam into the study and placed him on the couch, Caleb pushed the sweaty hair out of Sam's eyes.

"At least the kid got rid of those girly bangs…" Bobby said trying to break the tension. Caleb smirked.

"I dunno… I kind of miss them…"

"Since when? You boys were always bitching about them." Bobby carefully avoided Dean's name. Caleb shrugged his shoulders eyes still on their youngest.

"I know but… they were just so Sammy…" Bobby sighed and sat down.

"He is still the same brat I always remembered…"

"Is he? You didn't see him back there Bobby, something is broken in him, and I don't know if it can be fixed."

"It can be fixed."

"What makes you so sure old man?"

"Because that's your job now… and you won't let him break." Caleb didn't have time to reply as Mackland walked back into the room. He inspected Sam's wounds and carefully bandaged them.

"He needs some antibiotics and some pain meds, but after that he should be fine."

"Uhhh… you may want to hold off on the meds for awhile…" Caleb said.

"Why?" Mackland asked.

"You gotta give him a chance to work the alcohol out of his system…" Mackland sighed and shook his head.

"How drunk is he."

"Drunk enough."

"Jesus… what are you doing to yourself kid…" Mackland whispered. "Alright I am gonna give him an IV and help rehydrate him… we'll deal with the meds once he wakes up." Mackland ran the IV into the back of Sam's hand and then went to sit at the desk with Caleb and Bobby. The three hunters each pretended to be engrossed in books and journals, while they waited for the youngest member of their broken family to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"I'm dragging him back to the farm when this is all done with." Caleb said. He was sitting in the kitchen with Bobby and Mac waiting for Sam to wake up, his fever was gone and the infection would clear up on its own.

"Do you really think that would be wise?" Mackland asked.

"We need some time to deal, away from everyone else, and I need to find someway to reconnect with the kid…"

"You can't talk off for too long, we still need to appoint the next Guardian and I will need you and Sam to be present."

"Not now Dad… for once we need to be selfish. Everyone else needs to piss off."

"Does that include us?" Bobby asked.

"Depends on how hard you decide to push me… don't piss me off and we will be fine." Bobby snorted.

"Sounds about right, anyway I have to go help Joshua out on a hunt, lock up when you leave. Hopefully I see you around soon kid."

Caleb and Mackland sat in silence until they heard movement coming from the other room and Sam came into the kitchen and leaned against the doorway. He looked better, but still sick with those same dark circles under his eyes even though all he had done was sleep.

"Are you feeling any better Samuel?" Mackland asked.

"I'm fine…" Sam whispered walking across the kitchen and leaning against the counter. "Where's my car?"

"Out front, I had a friend of mind drive it back."

"What friend?" Sam asked.

"Does it matter? It's here alright?" Sam hummed a response and pulled a glass out of the cupboard and a bottle of whiskey.

"You've got meds in your system Sam, that isn't a good idea." Mackland said.

"Ain't gonna kill me…" Sam emptied the glass down his throat and then moved to pour another, when Caleb stood up and place a hand around the mouth of the bottle.

"Do you really think this is going to make anything better?" Sam laughed.

"I don't care about better, I'm aiming for numb."

"And this is working? This is making you numb?"

"Nope, but it helps make me unconscious that works for me."

"I know you are sad Samuel, but this isn't you…" Mackland said softly. Sam tensed and turned to face the two men.

"You know what? Quit fucking acting like I am the insane one here, quit acting like I am the only one falling apart here!" Sam screamed.

"No you are right, we are all falling apart, but you are the only one who refuses to try to hold it together."

"Hold what together? I have nothing left to hold together."

"Bullshit Sam, you have us and you have the Brotherhood."

"Screw the Brotherhood…"

"You don't mean that…"

"Yes I do, the Brotherhood hasn't helped me save my family, there is nothing else I want from it, it can go screw itself." Caleb got up in Sam's space, ignoring his father's warning calls.

"Really? So what are you going to do? Run away? Hunt down the monsters that took your family alone? Or are you going to do what Deuce expected of you and stand up, be a man and take over where you left off?"

"Fuck you Caleb…"

"No fuck you Sam. It's pathetic, everyday you act less like your brother and more like John Winchester." Sam snapped and pushed Caleb back against the wall grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Caleb gave Mackland a warning glance to stay back; this was something Sam had to work out by himself.

"Do not compare me to him… My father left the family he had left to go on a suicide mission!"

"Yeah… and what are you doing right now Sammy?" The anger lifted from Sam's face, and Caleb watched as the kid who went to Stanford, came to a realization. Sam let go of Caleb and turned away, bringing his arms around his body, making him appear very small.

"I just…. I don't know how to do this…" Mackland put a hand on Sam's shoulder, and spun him around.

"None of us do son, but we can get through this together. Things will never be the same, and it is always going to hurt, but I swear to God we will find a way to get through this."

"I don't think Jim would appreciate you swearing to God… especially on something you can't promise." Caleb laughed sadly and pulled Sam into a won armed hug.

"I'm not gonna let you self destruct kid, I'll get you through this I swear."

"Okay." Sam said. He didn't believe them, they both knew that, but they would do whatever it took to make Sam believe again.

"Tomorrow we are gonna head back to the farm, okay? Take some time off and figure this all out." Sam nodded.

"We need food." Sam said.

"Yeah lets clean Bobby out." Caleb said.

The three men went through the kitchen, none speaking but all in a much more comfortable silence. Caleb was deep in his own thoughts, he was going to save Sam, he had to. He had failed Dean, and he had failed John, there was no way he was going to fail the last Winchester standing.


End file.
